Till Death Do Us Part
by SissiCuddles
Summary: AU after the Hindsight arch, While the team tries to recover from the aftermath of such a heavily charged case, Provenza gets married, Sharon has a secret she has to share with Andy and the rest of the team and someone holds a grudge against the Captain.


To say that this case had broken havoc on the team and the entire LAPD was an understatement. In the midst of all the paperwork that this intense week of investigating required, Sharon Raydor took a deep breath, stretched her arms over her head and looked out the window. The sky had already started darkening, signaling that it was way past the end of the customary work day. She darted a look in the direction of the murder room and her tired eyes quickly swept over each and every desk. Provenza had already left, after an irate but somewhat understanding Patrice had stormed into the building to drag her soon-to-be husband home; Sanchez was waiting for Detective Dunn to escort her out, probably with the promise of dinner and drinks to unload; Amy looked like a kicked puppy, obviously drained by the previous day's events; Tao and Buzz were clearing out the murder board and the spare desks littered with files and material evidence, cataloging everything and putting it in the appropriate boxes. At last, Sharon's eyes landed on Andy. Sweet, wonderful Andy, who had come into her office the previous day and surprised her with a discreet, gentle hug that had made her so happy and lifted a weight from her chest. Between the numerous victims, the drug dealing, the constant digging into the past, ambitious jackass lawyers, infamous perjurers, Sharon Beck's less than glorious comeback and a new wave of threats on Rusty's life, Sharon and Andy had barely had a chance to spend time together. He was now checking his phone, already packed and ready to go. After one last glance to the clock, Sharon closed the last folder and, deciding that everything was in order, she made her way to the murder room, blazer and bag hanging from her arm.

"Captain, Lieutenant Tao and I can give Taylor's secretary those files on our way down to evidence." Buzz said, walking towards the woman. With a quiet murmur of thank you, Sharon handed the folders over to the young man.

Sensing Andy behind her, she dared one last look towards Amy still sitting at her desk. The young detective smiled softly at her superior, trying to convey that she was much better already. Sharon had already profusely thanked the team for the hard work once the killed had signed his confession and Hobbs had made her triumphant way to the other side of the street, so she waved at them and bid them goodnight.

The couple slowly made its way towards the elevator to the parking garage and somewhere on the way, her fingers had entwined with Andy's and her head had come to rest on his shoulder, providing a sense of comfort to both of them.

Once the sliding doors revealed the parking lot, Sharon remembered that Rusty had driven her to work because her car had a fuel leak. Another thing that didn't help her already lousy week, she thought.

"Rusty texted me saying your car is off to the garage and will be ready in the morning. And that it would be very ungentlemanly of me to let you get a patrol car to take you home." Andy said with one of his trademark grins. "He also told me to reassure you, once again, that he's absolutely fine. That 'you' are his mother and no matter how many times 'the other Sharon' comes back into his life, he loves you very much." He paused, looking at the woman by his side.

"He's a very sweet and clever boy." Sharon couldn't help but smile up at him and squeeze his hand slightly.

"Sharon Beck has screwed us over more than once and I really hope this is the last time. The fact that Gary and her were somewhat involved in our latest case..." she huffed. "I really need this to be over."

"It is over."

Andy kissed the top of her head. The arm around her waist, tightened just a bit as he directed her towards his car.

She could get used to this.

. . . .

She didn't now what time it was, but it was definitely too early for her liking, especially when Taylor had explicitly told her not to step foot in PAB until Monday. Her phone kept ringing and ignoring it was doing nothing to solve the situation even though it certainly sounded daunting. Her arm sneaked from under the soft duvet and reached for the buzzing coming from her nightstand.

"Captain Raydor... Sure... is 10 alright?... Perfect. Thanks. Bye."

With an annoyed grunt, the phone was back on the nightstand and her hand tucked safely under her chin. A loud, deep grunt resonated in the dark room, the soft rustle of sheets was a dead give away of what was about to happen. An arm made its way around her waist and tugged her towards a broad chest. Enjoying the warmth and rhythmic movement of Andy's chest, Sharon moved as close to him as she could without rousing him completely from his sleep. Andy had driven her to the condo, stopping to get dinner on the way. It was late and he was far too tired to resist Sharon when she grabbed his hand and begged him to stay the night.

"What did Taylor want?" he grumbled.

"Just a meeting." she replied. "How did you know it was Taylor?"

"He's the only asshole who'd call at this hour after telling us not to get into work until next week."

"You've got a point." she said, her lips curling into a gentle smile.

His arm tightened around her as he moved slightly so that his nose could nuzzle her neck.

"I need you to drop me off at the garage so I can get my car. I'm meeting Taylor at 10 and hopefully he won't bore me to death for more than an hour...which leaves me plenty of time to get ready for the wedding."

Andy could almost sense the broadening of her smile at the mention of the wedding. He dropped a kiss on her shoulder and hummed in agreement.

"What do I have to do to convince you to wear that lavender dress?" he asked.

"Uhm, I need to think about this thoroughly." she replied, laying a hand on top of the one he had on her stomach.

"Let me know when the jury has decided on a verdict." he joked. "I can't believe he's getting married again. That old cantankerous bastard." he said after a small pause.

Sharon hummed.

"I supposed he's got charm."

Andy snorted.

"A particular kind of charm. But it's still something." she corrected herself. "Now... let's get another hour of sleep before we have to get ready, okay?"

"Yes, Captain. Anything you say, Captain."

She pinched his arm and they both broke into laughter.

She really, really could get used to this.

. . . .

Saturday mornings at Parker Center were quieter than most other days. Many officers were off duty, finally able to enjoy a lazy morning or a few hours at the park with the kids. Weekends were what kept Sharon sane for he entire time in the force. Being able to spend time with Emily and Ricky in their home, cuddled up in bed with them when they were still toddlers or making breakfast with Emily while Ricky dragged himself to the shower. But then her kids had left home and she had found herself with plenty of time on her hands and nothing to do. She had thrown herself into her work, determined to do her fellow citizens and officers good, even if that meant arresting or disciplining her own colleagues. Then the new era of Major Crimes had arrived and changed her life: gone was the almost certainty of free weekends that came with FID and suddenly her working hours seemed to double. At the same time Rusty had come along, filling the house and the hours she'd have spent in complete loneliness. Since starting her job as head of a new division, she had learnt how to better delegate, much to Provenza's unhappiness, and she had developed some sort of routine, especially when it came to weekends. Saturdays were usually filled with trips to the grocery store and to the dry cleaners to collect the previous week's load and drop off this week's. Lately, Saturdays also entailed dinner and a movie with Andy, be it indoors or to their favourite restaurants, or walks along the beach with the two men that filled her heart with such happiness.

This Saturday though, Sharon was once again making her way to Parker Center. The sun was shining brightly and she wanted to thank Mother Earth for not making it too hot today. She'd hate to be forced to change the dress she had carefully chosen for today's wedding. The thought of Patrice and Provenza's nuptials, once again made her smile to herself. She indeed loved weddings, especially the ones Lieutenant Flynn invited her to. Sharon resisted the urge to giggle at the memory.

" _Captain, no more paperwork for me. I'm filled to the brim with stupid, grammatically correct formalities. If you as much as wave one more folder in front of me, I'll personally strike your name off the guest list." Provenza grumbled._

 _Everyone laughed at the old man's antics, except for Andy, who glared at his partner, clearly not finding his quip funny at all. Sharon nonchalantly placed one last folder onto the man's desk and he made a scene of picking up the big, red folder and dropping it on top of his desk, hand raised and pen at the ready. Sharon had laughed, patted the man on the shoulder and made her way back to her office, but not before passing Andy, her hand casually squeezing his shoulder. He followed her into the office, closing the door behind him. She stopped and turned around, surprised by his presence and by the scowl on his face._

" _What's wrong, Andy?"_

" _I..." he said before stopping abruptly._

" _Are you okay?"_

" _Yes, yes, I am great. I just..." he reassured her, before once again falling silent._

" _Yes...?" she prompted, slightly amused by how uncomfortable he looked._

" _What Provenza said... I was wondering if you'd like to... you know, be my plus one." he finished still not looking at her._

" _Andy." she said, trying to hide her amusement. She looked at him for a little while, before taking pity on him and walking up to him and lifting his chin up with a hand. "You are the silliest, sweetest man I have ever known. And yes, even though we are clearly both invited to the wedding already and Provenza likes to refer to me as 'your girlfriend ' and it should go without saying, I'll be your plus one. I wouldn't have it any other way."_

 _The boyish grin he gave her sent butterflies to her stomach._

 _Oh, that man._

 _That man_ , Sharon thought as she exited the car and made her way upstairs to Taylor's office. The last few months with Andy had been great and their now established relationship was one of the reasons why she was so adamant in taking her sweet time to make a decision about the NFL job. As much as she loved football and the opportunity to travel throughout the States, she'd feel so incredibly lonely without Andy and Rusty. Emily and Ricky were more than happy when she had announced the new job opportunity, citing that with all the traveling required, their mother could easily find ways to stop by Palo Alto and New York while on business. Andy and Rusty had been quite ecstatic too: the older man already thinking about freebies and the latter enthusiastic about Sharon doing something that would make her happy and keep her away from the daily dangers of life as a police officer.

The door to the Assistant Chief's office was open and the chair behind the desk empty. Taylor's secretary finally noticed the other woman and smiled.

"Captain Raydor, Assistant Chief Taylor forgot to mention that the meeting would take place in Chief Pope's office."

"Oh." was all Sharon managed to say. "Thank you, Lisa."

Back in the elevator, Sharon took a deep breath. She was more than aware of the press coverage of the case and of the implications of what the team and herself had revealed. The fact that Sharon Beck's boyfriend had been the witness they had needed all along was something that she still needed to completely wrap her mind around. Hopefully Chief Pope had nothing to say about it.

Finally making her way to where her two superior officers were awaiting her arrival, Sharon confidently strode towards Pope's office. As soon as she knocked on the door, Taylor opened it and welcomed her. Pope was leaning against the front of his desk, a grim smile on his face. Sharon had to stop a few seconds to think about the last time he had seen Pope smile an actual smile. Had she ever seen him smile when not in company of former Deputy Chief Johnson? Shaking those thoughts from her head, the Captain of Major Crimes sat on one of the chairs opposite the mahogany desk. Pope had already moved behind it and Taylor was slowly pacing the rest of the room. The scene looked quite familiar.

"I supposed you're wondering why we called you here, Captain." Pope stated.

"Unless you have a motive of which I'm not aware, I thought the purpose of this meeting was to talk about the most recent case and Hickman's involvement."

"The reason why you got called in on a Saturday has partly to do with the case." Pope assured. "First of all, I want to thank you on mine and the Mayor's behalf for all the hard work your team put into it."

"Thank you, Chief. I'm pretty sure you could have easily have told me that on the phone." Sharon replied rather curtly. She really didn't want to lose most of her morning in this office.

"We had an interesting conversation with the Mayor." Taylor spoke for the first time.

"I want to be clear. If this has anything to do with Sharon Beck and her boyfriend's link to the case, trust me, neither my son or I knew anything about it."

"Captain Raydor, that's not it." Pope stopped her. "Rusty's mother's involvement-"

"Biological." Sharon interrupted him.

"Huh?"

"Biological mother." she repeated.

"Rusty's biological mother's involvement in the case has absolutely nothing to do with why you're here."

"Alright. Then why am I here?"

Pope and Taylor shared a look. The latter stopped pacing and walked towards the empty chair next to Sharon.

"When we promoted you to head of major crimes-"

"You didn't really promote me." she commented sharply.

Pope looked chastised, whereas Taylor shook his head, eyes fixed on his hands.

"I guess... what we want to say is that we have seen the error of our ways and so has the Mayor." Pope explained. "Major crimes has worked so well under your command that we now see fit to promote you."

"A promotion. Let me guess... where am I supposed to go now to spread my rule of terror?"

"Captain!" Taylor exclaimed, exasperated.

"Russell, she's right." Will tried to calm his colleague. "Sharon, what we are trying to say is that the Mayor has been made aware of what a great job you and the team have done over the past few years and has decided to appoint a medal of distinction to each member of the squad." Chief Pope was looking at the woman in front of him, her pursed lips were a dead give away of her annoyance.

"Thank you. I'm sure my Lieutenants and Detectives will appreciate that. But that doesn't sound like a promotion to me." she stated matter of factly.

After a long pause, Taylor looked up from his hands.

"We are making you a Commander."

Pope's words reverberated through the room and Sharon's head. Did she hear him right? Was she really getting the promotion she had looked for all those years ago? Sharon cleared her throat, her hands slightly twitched in her lap.

"How is this different from the last time?" she asked.

"This time the Mayor intervened." Pope paused. "It's official, Sharon. By the end of next week, you'll be appointed Commander."

. . .

The drive from Park Center to her condo was eventless. When she arrived at the condo, Rusty and Gus were sitting at the table, having an early lunch before the chaos that would be Provenza's wedding.

"Hello boys!" Sharon greeted as she walked in. She immediately kicked her shoes off and dropped her bag on the small table by the door. "Ready for Provenza's big day?"

"Yup. We just got back from a bit of last minute shopping. Gus insisted on having a new tie." Rusty said with a smile, obviously teasing his boyfriend.

"Don't mock me. I didn't want to go to a wedding wearing the one tie I always wear."

"Don't listen to him, Gus. Rusty's not a tie person." she said, walking to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. "Let's see this new tie then."

Gus grabbed the shopping bag from where it sat on the table and made a show of opening the small box slowly, much to Sharon's amusement. Rusty simply huffed and went back to his food.

"Oh, that's a really nice tie." Sharon complimented the young man's taste. "I love a good tie."

"Yes, and may that be the reason why your clothes always match Andy's ties?" Rusty teased.

"We don't always match." she tried defending herself.

"Really, Sharon? Denial doesn't look good on you."

"It's purely accidental."

"Sure. Fine. Whatever."

Gus tried to stifle his laughter after witnessing the exchange between mother and son, but couldn't stop himself when he noticed Sharon's face. Rusty started laughing too.

"Okay. I surrender. I'm going to get my hair done. You two better behave."

As she made her way towards her bedroom, she could have sworn that Gus and Rusty were giggling.

. . .

The townhall was pretty quiet for a Saturday afternoon. Apart from the one man in a tuxedo, nobody would have even suspected that a wedding was about to start. The men of Major Crimes were huddled in a corner of the main hall talking with Provenza. The groom was shaking in his shoes, whether his condition was caused by nerves or fear nobody knew. On the other side of the room, Cathy Tao was talking to Amy. The youngest member of the major crimes unit looked absolutely stunning and so completely different from her usual work look.

Gus, Rusty and Sharon arrived all in the same car. Gus, ever the gentleman, helped Sharon out of the car. Rusty shook his head and told his boyfriend to stop sucking up to his mother. She simply shushed him and took Gustavo's offered hand. Cathy and Amy were the first ones to spot them.

"Sharon, if we didn't know who the bride was, we would have though you were the one getting married. You look absolutely stunning." Cathy complimented, walking towards Sharon and giving her husband's boss a quick hug. The two women had met more than once when Rusty and the Taos' son Kevin decided to hang out and had quickly become friends. Cathy, Mike and their son had been such a great support system for Rusty; they had alleviated some of the weight on Sharon's shoulders when it came to handling the stubborn teenager during his first year with her.

"We have very few occasions to show off our best clothes. We need to make the best of it." Sharon replied. "Hello Amy." she greeted her Detective. Rusty and Gus had quickly waved at them, before walking towards Cooper.

"Captain..." Amy greeted.

"We are off duty, Amy."

"I know. It just... It feels a bit strange." Amy stammered in reply.

"Whatever makes you feel comfortable." Sharon replied. "Now, I know we are not meant to talk about work, but I wanted to tell you again how impressed I was by your work on Hickman."

"Thank you, Captain."

Amy's ever present smile widened at the compliment.

"Now, why don't we join our men? Is Cooper coming?" she asked, looking around and spotting the group of men and not seeing the SOB officer.

"Yes, he is. He was here just a second ago." Amy commented, her tone slightly exasperated.

"Boys will be boys." Cathy said with a smile, looking at her husband who was currently talking to Buzz and pointing to the man's camera, probably talking about its technology and the best light to film the squad's traditional wedding video in.

"Excuse me." Amy said, making her way towards Rusty and Gus, who hopefully knew where her boyfriend had gone off to.

Sharon and Cathy made their way towards the huddle of men. The moment they noticed the presence of their Captain, the team went quiet for a few seconds, most of them stunned by the lack of a blazer, pantsuit or a strict dress on their superior.

"Hello gentlemen." Sharon broke the ice. Andy was by her side in an instant, one of his hands immediately reached for the small of her back and settled there, but not before slowly inching her towards him. He placed a gentle kiss on the crown of her head, that caused her to look up at him. Even in heels, she was still shorter than him and it was something that he likeds to make fun of. When her eyes went back to the other men in the group, Provenza was glaring at his partner, obviously uncomfortable with the dreamy look on his face. Nobody still had said a word.

"You look great, Captain." Buzz piped up, followed by Tao, who wrapped an arm around his wife and then complimented the two women. With the mildly awkward silence broken, conversation started to flow again, until Sanchez very uncharacteristically blushed. He quickly excused himself as Stephanie Dunn walked into the building. They all turned to look at Sanchez, who was smiling and kissing Steph's cheek.

"When did that happen?" was Provenza's turn to speak.

"They have both gone through the loss of a loved one. I think they're good for each other." Sharon said, allowing herself to move closer to Andy's side, her shoulder and part of her back now against his front.

"I think it was about time for Julio to find someone to be serious about." Andy commented.

"Now all we need is a girlfriend for Buzz." Mike teased.

"No, thank you, I'm fine." The youngest of the group replied, shying away from the sudden focus on his love life, or apparent lack of one.

"Stop teasing Buzz. He'll find someone on his own terms." Sharon defended the poor man.

"Making fun of Buzz is our favourite hobby, Captain, don't take that away from us." Provenza joked with a serious face.

"Lieutenant Provenza!?"

Everyone turned around at the new, yet familiar voice, The Mayor of Los Angeles was looking at them with a smile on his face. Provenza fiddled with his cufflinks before walking towards the man, whose hand was aleady extended, reaching for the Lieutenant's.

"I needed to stop by the office for some random paperwork when they told me my favourite, yet extremely clever troublemakers are all gathered here for a wedding." he paused, looking at the head of the division. "Sharon, you look lovely." Andy tightened his hold on her as a reflex. Sharon shook her head and looked up at him with a small smile. "Anyway, I hope Chief Pope and Assistant Chief Taylor talked to you about the latest news." At Sharon's nod, he continued. "Good. Now, we have a wedding to celebrate."

"Sir?"

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"I... Will you...?"

"Oh, of course I'm officiating this. I wouldn't have it any other way. My wife can wait another hour." he said with a sour look. "Hopefully she'll forgive me for not going shopping with her."

Everyone chuckled as they walked towards the courtroom. Cathy and Sharon exchanged knowing looks and left the men to their own devices.

"We are going to wait out here for Patrice. I'll join you in a few moments." Sharon told Andy. He pecked her lips before joining his friends.

"I never thought I'd see the day Andy Flynn would be so smitten." Cathy said.

"I never though I'd ever be so smitten with Andy Flynn." was all Sharon could say.

. . .


End file.
